We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used
when we created them. Albert Einstein
Today POLITICO
carried an opinion piece titled, “End the budget brinkmanship.” The authors are James Carter, who served as an
associate director of the National Economic Council under
President George W. Bush and on the staff of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee,
and Paul Weinstein Jr., director of the Public
Management program at Johns Hopkins University, who served as chief of staff of President Bill Clinton’s
White House Domestic Policy Council and as senior adviser to the National
Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
Their opening paragraph says:
Members of Congress
will face two acute budget problems when they return to Washington next month.
Having failed to pass appropriations bills to fund the government, Congress
will need to adopt a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown on
Oct 1. And to avoid any hint of federal default, Congress will also need to raise
the debt ceiling. If recent history is any guide, a hyperpartisan fight will
lead to a last-minute resolution that skates by these short-term problems but
does little or nothing to fix federal government’s larger, long-term budget
problems. And so the can will be kicked down the road once again.
The authors then emphatically state:
The United States cannot
afford this budget brinksmanship. The
terms of the debate must change.
The authors emphasize that “…Washington
has focused largely on the here and now.”
And, in the short-term, deficit reduction is being accomplished: “pushing
the projected budget deficit below $1 trillion for the first time since 2008.” Good news…right? Not so fast: “In fact, the longer term
picture is devastating.” They go on to
highlight that by 2031 “mandatory spending – Medicare, interest payments and
other spending not controlled by Congress through the appropriations process –
will consume ALL federal revenue.” Then
they point out, “Think about that: Every penny collected in taxes will be
allocated before Congress even gavels in.”
These economists know that “the
real problem is not where we are today; it’s where we are going.” They support the INFORM* act because they
claim it will “serve a critical role by refocusing Washington on America’s
long-term crisis.”
Their closing comment is, “It is
time for Republicans and Democrats alike to face the facts, rather than kick
the can.”
Carter worked for George W. Bush and
Weinstein worked for Bill Clinton. These
two “experts” cut their collective teeth in a system that created our budgetary
problems. And, here they are advocating
that we look for solutions to our Nation’s budgetary problems utilizing the
same thinking that was used when those problems were created. Does the INFORM act have merit? Probably so.
Will it serve the purpose of “refocusing Washington on America’s
long-term crisis?” No. Will Democrats and Republicans “face the
facts, rather than kick the can?” No.
Even Carter and Weinstein admitted that “the
can will be kicked down the road once again.”
And, let’s not be fooled, deficit
reduction has nothing to do with debt reduction. It only has to do with reducing the amount of
spending in the red. The debt still goes
up and up and up.
*For more information on the
authors perceived benefits of the INFORM act, please read the article at the
link below.
Carter, James and Paul Weinstein Jr.
“End the budget brinksmanship.
POLITICO.com. August 30, 2013.
Retrieved from:http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/end-the-budget-brinksmanship-forever-96043.html?hp=r15
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